Lipstick on a Land Grab: Sen. Mike Lee’s Revised Bill Still Privatizes the West

If we give them an inch, they will take a mile. Say it loud: Not One Acre.

Sen. Mike Lee has submitted a revised version of his sweeping public lands legislation for Senate Parliamentarian review. The redlines are in—and let’s be clear: the core purpose of this bill remains unchanged. It’s a mass privatization scheme dressed up as housing reform. A calculated dismantling of public ownership, repackaged as “disposal.” A land grab by any other name.

Despite superficial edits—like reducing the mandatory disposal floor from 0.5% to 0.25%—the bill still compels the Bureau of Land Management to put vast swaths of the American West on the auction block.

Public Land Sales for Private Sprawl

Buried in Section 50301 is the bill’s most dangerous provision: a program that requires BLM to identify and sell parcels of public land—millions of acres in total—on a rolling basis, every 60 days.

Anyone—from developers to local officials to industry lobbyists—can nominate tracts for sale, and the Secretary “shall” prioritize those nominations. Parcels near cities, roads, or existing infrastructure are fast-tracked. There is no requirement that lands be ecologically degraded or difficult to manage. They just need to be politically convenient.

Section 50301(c)(1):

“Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and every 60 days thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall publish a list of tracts... identified by the Secretary concerned for disposal…”

And once selected, the land must be sold—through competitive sale, auction, or right of first refusal to state and local governments. These transactions bypass the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act’s (FLPMA) disposal safeguards and cut the public out of the process entirely.

Section 50301(h):

“The disposal of a tract of covered Federal land under this section shall be considered to meet the requirements under... sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976…”

The revised bill tries to add polish: 5% of proceeds go to local governments, 10% to deferred maintenance for hunting and recreation. But the rest—85% of the money from public land sales—goes straight to the Treasury. There’s no reinvestment in conservation, restoration, or climate resilience. It’s a one-way extraction of public wealth, with no ecological return.

And despite all the talk of affordable housing, there are no affordability requirements. The land can be used for luxury subdivisions, energy infrastructure, or speculative sprawl. There is a cap on how much land one person can buy, unless you already own the land next door. That exemption benefits the usual suspects: large developers and public lands ranchers, who often hold adjacent parcels and can buy as much as they want.

Section 50301(f)(4):

“A person may not purchase more than 2 tracts of covered Federal land in any 1 sale under this section unless the person owns land surrounding the tracts of covered Federal land to be sold under this section.”

And, lands with valid grazing leases are exempt from sale—shielding public lands ranchers while the rest of us watch our commons auctioned off. In fact, the Public Lands Council (PLC)—the lobbying arm of the livestock industry—circulated a message to its members supporting this land disposal scheme, so long as grazing permits remain untouched. Their bottom line: sell the land, just not the land they graze on for a mere $1.35 per cow per month. It’s really clear the ranchers want to maintain their sweetheart deal while selling out the rest of us.

What the Redlines Really Mean

The tweaks made in the June 25 version—lowering disposal percentages, adding small revenue set-asides, and clarifying nomination procedures—are lipstick on a land grab.

They don’t change the core objective of this bill: Privatize public lands. Cut the public out. And make it permanent.

This isn’t about affordable housing. It’s not about land stewardship. It’s about dismantling public ownership and selling off our shared inheritance to developers, speculators, and industry insiders—piece by piece.

And if this passes under budget reconciliation—without hearings, without floor debate, without public input—it won’t just be a policy failure. It will be a wholesale betrayal of the American public. We have a July 4 deadline.

These lands belong to all of us. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Call your Senators now. Tell them: not one acre.

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Grace Kuhn is the Digital Director for Western Watersheds Project. grace@westernwatersheds.org